AIDS: The Modern Epidemic Essay

AIDS: The Modern Epidemic Essay

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AIDS: The Modern Epidemic

When we speak on the taboo subject of AIDS, many questions arise. First of all where did this wretched disease come from, what is it, who has it, and who can contract it? AIDS has terrorized the world for over 20 years and yet there is still no cure. In its short existence it has become one of the most rapidly spreading diseases in the history of mankind. The question regarding AIDS is, “will there ever be a cure?” Scientists may never be able to answer that question. Modern diseases including AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome), usually don’t constitute as being “new.” A more accurate term would “unfamiliar.” Researchers say this mainly because there is always a possibility that the disease existed, changing and conforming without recognition until it becomes too much for the body to fight off. It is at this point that the bacteria or virus is recognized as a disease. It is improbable that AIDS can be traced to its immediate source, but scientists are sure that the disease is derived from central African nations Zaire, Burundi, Ugandi, Rwanda, Tazania, and Kenya. Abundant in these regions are a species of monkey called the African Green, which carries a virus similar in structure to that of AIDS. These monkeys are not susceptible to the disease due to the fact that they have developed an immunity to it. Because of this characteristic they may have been carrying the virus long before it became known to humans. By studying every aspect of this
disease, including all theories of its origin researchers become one step closer to finding a cure for HIV/AIDS.
Another common questions is how humans contracted the AIDS virus? The answer is quite simple, monkeys were often sold by the natives,...

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- AIDS: The Modern Epidemic When we speak on the taboo subject of AIDS, many questions arise. First of all where did this wretched disease come from, what is it, who has it, and who can contract it. AIDS has terrorized the world for over 20 years and yet there is still no cure. In its short existence it has become one of the most rapidly spreading diseases in the history of mankind. The question regarding AIDS is, “will there ever be a cure?” Scientists may never be able to answer that question.... [tags: HIV, cure, blood]

- Imagine a disease that started infecting a particular group and determined how that group was perceived as a whole. The disease eventually spread to other groups, but the original infected group was never fully cleaned of dirty and infected stigmas. Imagination is no longer needed for this scenario. This disease is known as AIDS. AIDS began in the lives of homosexuals and affected the perception of the entire community. Afraid of persecution, homosexuals were pushed into the shadows and engaged in promiscuous behavior with little protection from STIS.... [tags: AIDS, Homosexuality, HIV, Immune system]

- It wasn’t until Magic Johnson revealed that he had been victimized by HIV in the 90’s, that people took notice that HIV could affect anyone, homosexual, heterosexual, famous or infamous(Spector 2).Before magic case HIV had been labeled as a “gay disease” and had been widely ignore by heterosexuals(Spector 2). Since many famous celebrities before magic had succumbed to death a few months after contracting the disease many expected Magic to follow suit and his name to go down in history as one of what could have been, but never was(Spector 2).On the contrary the exact opposite happened, instead of relying on self-pity, anguish and despair, Magic lifted himself and helped others that were i... [tags: Immune system, HIV, AIDS, Vaccine]

- For the fast several years an AIDS vaccine has been the key focus in AIDS research. While the government sees the vaccine as a termination to the disease, but a portion of the public along with many renowned scientists from around the world would argue against a vaccine. The United Nations and the US military have threatened to administer a mandatory vaccine to children at the age of 12 and all military employees. Reports predict a massive resistance to a mandatory AIDS vaccine in the US. (www.newsmax.shtml) The Committtee to Protect Medical Freedom warned that the vaccine would infact put more people at risk of contracting the deadly disease.... [tags: Free AIDS Essays]

- What is new and not so new in the history of HIV/AIDS. The history of HIV and AIDS is peppered with similarities to other epidemics seen throughout history. However, in many ways HIV/AIDS presented new ways of looking at and dealing with disease in our modern culture. This essay will examine these two separate avenues of thought, and will help to illustrate both the individuality of the epidemic, and its’ uniformity. How was the history of AIDS/HIV not so new. In the United States, HIV and AIDS began to be seen in the early 1980s.... [tags: HIV, modern disease and epidemics]

- The acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) was initially recognized in the first half of the twentieth century and has since become a major worldwide epidemic (“Discovery Health”). Debate about the origin of AIDS has enticed considerable concern and controversy since the advent of the epidemic. It is has been proven that AIDS is caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) by stimulating the destruction and functional impairment of cells in the immune system, potentially destroying the human body’s ability to fight infection (“CDC”).... [tags: Free AIDS Essays]

- The prevalence of AIDs in the African countries has come to be more apparent as the rates of those who have AIDs has increased over the past few years. Zimbabwe is a third world country where many facilities are not available as well as health oriented programs, many people are living under deplorable conditions which also contributes to their risk of infection. Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome or AIDs caused by HIV, is a disease that is caused by sexual intercourse with those of who are infected with it, AIDs can also be caused by prenatal transmission, and if the mother were to have AIDs then the child would also be infected.... [tags: social issues, african countries]

- Will HIV and AIDS as the Black Death of the Twenty-First Century According to an article on BBC World Service, published on 25th October, 2001, the Black Death claimed 25 million lives in Europe and Asia between the 13th and 17th century. Now nearly 400 years later the British Medical Journal reports an estimated 65 million deaths from AIDS by the end of the decade. Obviously these figures are rough estimates, however they illustrate the severity of the Bubonic Plague and the impending severity of an AIDS epidemic.... [tags: Papers]

- The AIDS Crisis AIDS is an epidemic that has been treated like every other plague in history. Because it is human nature to be afraid of what one cannot control, people are invariably afraid of disease and infection. Moreover, the fear is escalated many times over in that the disease starts controlling the person who it has infected. As a result, society as a whole ostracizes and black lists anyone and anything that is believed to be associated with the disease. Many people think the United States is home of the most modern and developed society in the world.... [tags: essays research papers]

- AZT The AIDS virus is one of the most deadly and most wide spread diseases in the modern era. The disease was first found in 1981 as doctors around the United States began to report groups of young, homosexual men developing a rare pneumonia caused by an organism called Penumocystis carini. These patients then went on to develop many other new and rare complications that had previously been seen only in patients with severely damaged immune systems. The Center for Disease Control in the United States named this new epidemic the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome and defined it by a specific set of symptoms.... [tags: essays research papers fc]